New-York tribune., 1887-10-23
BISMARCK AND CRISPL.
REAsONS FOR THE GERMAN-ITALlAN
LEAGUE AGAINST FRANCE.

body Ever i C. ". WadGington returned from
the Congress o. , Rim ID blood has been ferment-
ing brtwcea France and Italy. The cause OF this
was the readiness tie French Government showed
to annex iunJ 10 Algeria. Italy had a large
TdnI,ian trade aad 1t is the way OF France IN all
hcr colonies whIcl are ".Crown" or state ones
10 pu. on d.ll'r,nta duties TO keep out the goods
Of foreigners. Apart from revival III the National
bran OF Itaiv ofo.d Roman ideas of domination
the dam the French conquest OF the beyiicate
has placed a,hHart a great Italian trade-current
has been in important places a cause
OF conn rul perturbation which has not yet
cviacntiy reached It's highest pclnt. When
General Boulangcr was military governor Of Iunis
the relations between the cOnsuls OF France ana
Italy became tense owing to the resolve OF The
General " 20 stand DO nonsense that the Govern
meut rccallcl Boulanger. When say it recalled HIM
| should eXp'an that il informed HIM that ne must
take up his abode in Paris and govern Ivy letter
and telegraph This was done for more than SIX
months.
Marshal MortAes secret tour in the Pedmontese,
Savoy and Malitiue Alps to study the roads, forts
end military positions there took place at about
this iuIcture 1t nearly over before the iu-
cocnIio of the Marshal was discovered. At his
great age he must have had some powerful motive
III climbing high hills and undergoing severe hard
shlps. Tbs motive was easy to divine. The 81.
Gohar1 tunnel had been recently opened The
Marshal wanted to in what exact measure 1t
would enable Germany and Italy to cooperate III
attacking France. OF in resisting a French attack.
lie Is sal 20 have concluded in favor of ali attack
from Italy BY the Apes Maritmes-the direction
which the Imperial troops OF Charles V. took to
invade Provence when Francis |. was king.
BY the military survey which Moltke was en-
gagged in it was discovered that the
passes above Nice and Mentone were
practically unfortfed. When General BIZ
lot was military governor of Marsellles for
two years he only inspected the forts
and fortalices there once and that because he had
gone to Nice to he present at a grand dejcuner.
Arriving a couple of hours before the time for sit
ting down 10 table he to kill time drove up to see
the military defences Of the Cornche road. While
Ferry was last Premier General ThibaudIn went
disguised as 4 sergeant to inspect the forts on the
Italian frontier. But the Germans. to whom Ferry
had been pro o'essing cordial friendship knew all
abou the disguise before he left Paris. and two of
their officers logged HIM to Lyons This being
ascertaine,l by Ferry he telegraphed to Thibaudin
TO come bacl, and when he ha1 returned put him
out OF office. This TO prove to the German and
Italian Ambassadors that the Premier was reaEJs
and truly their devoted servant, aad that Ihi-
baudip went on his own account and unknown to
his colleagues tomake his round of inspection III
the mountains of Savoy aid in the Maritime Alps.
General Boulanger made some secret inspections,
about which the Germans were soon well posted mp.
General Ferlcn has been twice openly all along tho
FIanco-ltaliGn frontier with two distin-
puished mill .ary engineers. His last
tour followed so rapidly the first
10 s,artlc military men and TO throw the Italian
press into Il ir Of anger from which it has not yet
recovered 1t believed, affected TO believe, that
the ROuyier cabinet was comprising how to invade
ltalV: and OY Fcrron's professional movements III
the French APP are made use OF by Siynor Crspi's
organs to justify the political departure of wnlch
his visit 10 Prince Bismarck is sign.
One of Italy's grievances against France has been
the friendly disposition of every French Govern
nent since the resurrection OF Greek nationality
toward Greece. This sympathy has taken an Off
cial form since the Tunis expedition brought
France and italy into sharp rvairy. Gambetta
was visited hy the King OF Greece. NJ, de Freycuet
was very near ordering q French squadron TO sup
port Greek claims by shot and shell against Turkey
at Dulcigno. France stood out last spring against
The MARITIME blockade of certain Greek ports By the
Powers, wdilst on the other hand Count Corti, the
Italian NJ mister at Constantnople, dragged Eng
land into IT, he Greeks are. because 1t is a case
OF needs must. a maritime people. They have, like
St PsRl big spirit, and-ln point of size-a con-
temptible body. Their territory il small. but so
jndented and winding and ise-studded along the
coast that they baye the largest seaboard IN
Europe Before the Suez Canal was opened they
were the great water carriers OF the Levant but
their sea horizons were bounded. Ihey are now
open far and wide IN Southern and Eastern
Oceans aud SalonIca is in q way TO become Le-
vantine Antwerp. Italy. who wants to revive her
old commercial activity by as well as By laud-
en- activity which went to Sleep because her own
son Columbus discovered the New World and gave
the best sca-farng situation 10 the British Islands
does not ike to young Greece gaming IN SIZE
as well as i'll spirit She above all things
wants to keep her out OF SalODca and
10 prevent that port from being Joined by rail with
Central Europe and Antwerp. II 1t were so united
1t would be 10 suck trade from Brlndlsi Genoa and
other Italian ports to which the St Gothard lines
are giving powerful stimulus. Italy also wants
TO get hold of the different islands Venice held In
the Adr.atic and amongst them the 1onian Isles
Apart from all romantic sentiment. France is less
pressed upon by Greece than by Italy. and is there
70 very much with the former.
Signor Crisp had to talk of all THIS to Prince Bis
marck He had also to the future relations be-
fweepKlng IIumbcrt and the Pope for whom last the
German Chancellor Is authorized 10 be mediator
bulgaria touches closely upon Greece and so affects
Italy But the question of questions and the one
which must have governed all the Others. was the
extent to which Italy was prepared to go wlth Ger
ana Arslrla 1ntO All oHcuNNc VI utjcHoiNc
alliance against France and what benefits she
might expect for taking step so momentous.
There is no doubt that such triple alliance IS
agreed to- Nor can here be any doubt that Bis
narck and Crispi want 10 have the Pope as a court
card IN their hand There is still g good deal of
Catholic feeling In France and Italy and the
b,gb nressure pace at which the world
is going will make 1t stronger II Bismarck pro-
claimed when German troops invaded France that
he only came 20 fight turbulent Republic, and If
fbe priests and bishops treated him as deliverer,
many of his difficulties might vanish. The Pope
has already done him yeomans service in getting
the (entrs PARTY in the ReichstaQ accept his mil
ifary bill lie was not of much use Ill Alsace.
Catholics there will take any amount Of theology
from Rome but no doctrine